The Encyclopedia Britannica has decided to stop publishing its weighty 32-volume print editions after 244 years, and instead focus on digital.

Britannica previously made money by selling encyclopedias door-to-door, but it has faced growing competition from the likes of Google and Wikipedia.

The Chicago-based company now generates 85% of its revenue from digital sales, and also recently started offering a digital encyclopedia for tablet computers.

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Encyclopedia Britannica president Jorge Cauz said that the sales of printed editions, first published in Edinburgh in 1768, have been "negligible for several years".

Speaking to reporters, he said: "This has nothing to do with Wikipedia or Google. This has to do with the fact that now Britannica sells its digital products to a large number of people."

The final hardcover copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica set is available now for purchase from Britannica's website, priced at $1,395 (£894).

Cauz said that printed sales of the box set peaked in 1990 with 120,000 sets sold, but that number had declined to just 40,000 six years later.

The company began digital publishing in the late 1980s with CD-ROM versions of the books, before going online in 1994. Online versions of the encyclopedia are now used by around 100m people worldwide.

Britannica has a staff of more than 100 editors, backed up by a network of expert contributors around the world, including high-profile figures such as ex-US president Bill Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

As many people now have access to the internet on computers and connected devices, the concept of a printed reference guide feels increasingly outmoded.

Britannica said that it wants to move with its customers, but also the shift to digital enables the firm to continuously update the encyclopedia.